


Tea cakes and Spray Paint

by wolfoftheafterlife



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-02 20:31:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8682382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfoftheafterlife/pseuds/wolfoftheafterlife
Summary: Bucky owns a coffee shop and has a problem with the graffiti, until he doesn't.





	1. Chapter 1

Bucky sighed as he looked across the street. The building across from his shop has been the victim of graffiti for a while and it just seemed to be piling on. He doesn’t mind the fact that there’s graffiti across from his cafe but they could at least make it visually pleasing. The building is abandoned so Bucky has called the city several times to see if they could remove the vandalism. Unfortunately the city though it was a waste of time and money so they refused.He was thinking of painting over it all since some of it wasn’t appropriate to be across from a bakery where children would often come in.  
“Are you moping over the graffiti again?” asked a voice behind Bucky, causing him to jump.  
“Jeez, Nat, are you trying to give me a heart attack? And I’m not moping. I was just thinking about painting over it when I get free time.”  
“Free time? Between the bakery and your appointments at the VA I’m surprised you even sleep.” Natasha has been Bucky’s friend since grade school and was constantly worried about him since he came back from war with one less arm. It’s not like he minded that Natasha babied him, he couldn’t stop her even if he did. She’d been there since forever and was one of the most important people in his life. The first few months were the worst and she helped to keep him grounded. Now he was running his own bakery and she was still there for him.   
“Speaking of the VA, didn’t Sam say he’s coming in today?”  
“Yeah, if he has time after his sessions.”  
As if on cue Sam walked into the small bakery. He usually came in alone, though this time there was a small blond guy next to him. Not that Bucky was complaining. More customers were always a good thing. Plus, he couldn’t deny the fact that he thought the smaller man was pretty attractive.  
“Hey Sam, we were just talking about you.” Bucky greeted.  
“All good things, I hope.”  
“With you, of course.”  
“Well, there was that one time in basic.” Nat started.  
“Hey, we made an agreement not to talk about it.”  
“Fine, I’ll save that for later. Who’s your friend?”  
“Oh, this is Steve, he’s volunteering at the VA.”  
“It’s nice to meet you, Steve.” Nat greets. “I’m Natasha, this is James.”  
“You can call me Bucky. Only my parents and Nat call me James.”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Steve greets back with a voice surprisingly deep for his size, causing a shiver to go up Bucky’s back.  
“So are you guys gonna get something, or did you just come to visit?” Nat asked as they walked towards the counter.  
“Ooh, I want a coffee and some of that lemon cake I tried last week.”  
“And for Steve?”  
“Um, tea is good.”  
“Did you want anything else?” Bucky asked. “Our chocolate chip muffins are pretty good.”  
“I doubt my diabetes would agree with that.”  
Before Bucky could start apologising, Natasha cut in. “So coffee and lemon cake for Sam, tea for Steve. Got it.”  
“So, Bucky, Nat says you’ve been having a problem with the graffiti again?”   
“Yeah. I’ve called the city, but apparently it’s a waste of taxpayer's money to keep our city looking nice. It’s not that I’m against seeing people’s art on buildings, I just wished their art looked good.”  
“He’s right,” Steve said. “Their ‘artwork’ is pretty shitty.”  
“What are your views on graffiti, Steve?” Bucky asked, curious.  
“I like it, if it’s done right.”  
This time Sam spoke up. “Have you ever done any? I mean, I’ve seen some of your paintings and they’d be pretty awesome on buildings.”  
“Do you think my lungs could support me working with spray paint?”  
“Right, I guess not.” Bucky looked confused so Sam explained. “I’ve seen him go into asthma attacks when he’s just using regular paint. His lungs probably wouldn’t like the chemicals from the spray paint flying around in the air.”  
“Plus I couldn’t afford the fine if I was caught.”  
“There’s that too.”  
“Here’s your stuff.” Natasha set the food and drinks on the table.  
“Thanks.”  
“Is James complaining about the graffiti again? He always does that.”  
“Not always!”  
“No yelling inside the cafe.”  
“It’s my cafe.”  
“James, shut up and let the customers eat.”

 

After Sam and Steve left, Natasha turned to her friend.  
“So what did you think?”  
“We should try a peanut butter filling with the chocolate cupcakes.”  
“That’s not what I meant. I saw you staring at him.”  
“At who?”  
“Really, James? If you don’t stop acting like you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll kick your ass.”  
“Fine,” he says, knowing that Natasha doesn’t make idle threats. “He’s cute. He seemed to care when I was complaining, although it annoys everyone else. He has those dumb blue eyes that look like they can shine through the night. He’s beautiful. Did you know Steve does art? He sketches mostly. Sometimes-”  
“James! You’re rambling, it’s annoying. I get it, you’re in love with Steve.”  
“I just met the guy, I’m not in love.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Without thinking, Bucky was out the door. He approached the figure.   
> “Hey!” Bucky yelled to get their attention.   
> As soon as he yelled the figure looked up, dropping the can of spray paint and running.

The next day Bucky was surprised to see the graffiti wall was blank. Everything was painted over in white and you could barely tell the graffiti was even there before, if not for the little bit peeking over the top.   
When Natasha came into the shop, she seemed to be a bit annoyed.   
“You know, if you wanted it done so badly I could have done it.”  
“What did I do wrong this time?”  
“The graffiti, James. You don’t get enough sleep as it is, you don’t need to be up all night repainting a wall because it’s aesthetically unpleasing to you.”  
“That wasn’t me. It was like that when I got here this morning.”  
“Promise you’re not lying to me?”  
“I would never lie to you. Mostly because I fear for my life, but also because we should trust each other. Plus, you can tell when people are lying. You should know I’m telling the truth. Maybe someone from the city finally thought the graffiti was ugly.”  
“I don’t know who it was, but I doubt that.”

 

That night Bucky stayed in the bakery late after closing. He was trying to finish an order for a kid’s birthday party the next day. All he needed to do was finish cleaning up and frost the cake tomorrow. After cleanup he went to lock the door. It was just a little past midnight and the city was quiet in his part of town. He was about to lock the door when he noticed a figure across the street. The first thing he noticed was that they were dressed in all black. The second thing they noticed was they were spray painting over the newly painted wall. Without thinking, Bucky was out the door. He approached the figure.   
“Hey!” Bucky yelled to get their attention.   
As soon as he yelled the figure looked up, dropping the can of spray paint and running. Bucky followed in a sprint. He was gaining quickly on the person when then suddenly stopped.  
When he caught up to the person, he noticed they were breathing quicker than they probably should have.  
“Are you okay?” Bucky asked.   
“Fine.” A voice replied. It took a bit before Bucky realised he recognised the voice. “Asthma.”  
“Steve?”  
Steve nodded then fell to the ground.   
“Where’s your inhaler, do you have it with you?”  
“Pocket.” Steve gasped. Bucky immediately reached into Steve’s hoodie and grabbed the inhaler. He shook it then held it to Steve’s mouth.  
“Deep breaths. Come on.” Steve obliged and after a few puffs of his inhaler, he wasn’t breathing as heavily. “I thought you said you didn’t do graffiti.”  
“I never said that. I just said my lungs can’t handle the chemicals. That’s why I wear this.” He pulled a black surgical type mask out of his pocket.   
“But you were there when I was complaining about the graffiti. Why would you make more?”  
“There was already graffiti.”  
“But then someone painted over it!”  
“That was me!”  
“Wait, you were the one who painted the building? And now you’re painting over it?”  
“Um, yeah.”  
“Why?”  
“You said you didn’t mind graffiti if it was appealing to the eyes. I’d like to believe I’m a pretty good artist.”  
“Okay.” Bucky sighed. “You can’t just leave a partly finished art piece on the side of a building. But, I don’t want you having another asthma attack.”  
“I’ll be fine,” Steve interrupted. “I have my mask and my inhaler.”  
“Quit interrupting me. I am going to wait out here until you’re done. Then, we’re going to go into my cafe and make you something warm. It’s too cold out here for you.”  
“Gee, thanks, Ma.”  
“Shut up, I’m just making sure you don’t get sick.”  
“Whatever.” Steve and Bucky made their way back to the building. Steve picked up the bag of spray paint he dropped and went to continue his work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda suck at making stories with chapters, but whatever.


	3. Chapter 3

“You can’t look until it’s finished, deal?”  
“Sure.” Bucky said, turning around.  
They were silent until Bucky spoke up again. “So, how did you get into this?”  
“I like art.” Steve answered simply. Bucky decided not to press further. 

“Okay, I’m done. Before you turn around, you should know it’s not my best work.”  
“I’m sure it’ll be okay. I heard the way Sam was talking about your stuff.”  
“Okay, I warned you.”  
When Bucky turned around, his breath caught in his throat. He didn’t know what to say so he just stared for a while.  
“Um, like I’ve said, it’s not my best work. I’m better with pencil and paper. Different technique, you know? Pencil I can erase.”  
“Steve.”  
“What?”  
“Shut up. It’s amazing.” He turned to Steve. “Is it me?”  
Steve’s face turned bright red, “Uh, yeah. Is it weird?”  
“No, it’s fine. I’ve never been art before.”  
“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”  
“You callin’ me beautiful?”  
“I- Uh- No.”  
Bucky took in the picture once again. It was him, but looked completely different. He was dressed in a black combat uniform, a mask covering the lower half of his face. He was holding a rifle and had what looked like angel wings sprouting from his back. It was beautiful.  
“Okay. Let’s get back in and I’ll make you some tea. You’re gonna get pneumonia or something out here.”  
“I’m not gonna break.”  
“We made a deal.”  
“Fine,” Steve sighed as he followed Bucky inside the shop.  
They were quiet while Bucky made Steve and himself tea. He set them on the counter, taking a seat on the stool next to Steve.   
“So,” Steve spoke. “You’re not gonna call the cops or anything, right.”  
“Nah. I’ve been calling about the graffiti and they haven’t done anything so far. Why would I call when it’s actually good art?”  
“You’re just saying it’s good art because it’s you.”   
Bucky smiled, “yeah, maybe.”   
“What time do you normally open?”  
“I wake up around four thirty to get dressed and get everything ready. We open around five thirty. Why?”  
“It’s getting pretty late. I should get going and you should probably get some sleep.”  
There’s a part of Bucky that wanted to tell Steve not to go. To tell Steve it wouldn’t matter if he stayed a while longer, Bucky wouldn’t be able to sleep anyways. He wanted to have Steve stay but instead he just smiled and said, “you get home safe, okay? Do you want me to walk you home?”  
“Thanks, Buck. I can walk myself, I’m not that far from here.” Then he left.


End file.
